Stroganoff Restaurant

I love this restaurant:)!
I had dinner with my family tonight. We ordered Sea Bream, Chicken Cutlet, Herrings, and Lamb something…
Herrings was great and fresh but a little bit too much oil. Vegetables on fried fish of Sea Bream were super delicious:)! And Chicken cutlet was my favorite. Its sauce was so delicious!

Best beef stroganoff I ever tasted. Traditional Olivie salad is yummy as well as borsch. Great lunch deal: you
get an enormous sampler that includes 3 courses (including Beef Stroganoff) for $ 15. Very reasonable price as compared to other Russian restaurants. Recommend!

PEROGI PIT-​STOP–
RUSHING RUSSIAN FARE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
for the HUMBLE PEASANT, & not Pheasant!
Being that I am Czechoslovakian and was raised in NYC, and ate at dozens & dozens of Polish, Czech, Slovak, & Russian places countless times while growing up… not to even speak of homemade stuff that mom & the relatives would whip up… this little rundown rather humble place was mostly disappointing.
But being just a block away from the Fisherman’s Wharf Hyatt, & I was damned curious…
Why the hell not try it!
Their handmade Perogis were good, except that they did not properly drain the damned water from them, after boiling, & they were still wet on the plate.
How sad for the poor little drowned Perogis :(
The Russian soup was packed with ingredients, but was ultimately bland, even with the addition of sour cream.
They also appeared to be having a rather annoying drunk party in the next room for some ethnic local Russians. At least in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach area, they can also be very drunk & annoying, but serve fantastic food… with bottles of fine Vodka everywhere. The Vodka would be served and drunk out of water glasses. No tiny shot-​glasses for those guys, gals, & kids?
The selections on this places menu were limited and I saw nothing like a Kielbasa on it. I never really cared for Stuffed Cabbage even when my mom made it… since it is basically meatloaf wrapped in leaves.
I wonder where was the Chicken Kiev, or other real goodies.
And definitely, no Pheasant nor Roast duck, nor any other fine fowl…
This place had the feeling of much of the slowly dying «Russian Hill» area, where just a small handful of Russians keep these places going.
I am not sure if it is worth it, except for a curious CA local who never tried a Perogi before.
The young lady who served us, was pleasant, but kind of oversold the quality of the food.
I would come here again, just for the Perogi, if I have a mood for it again… but for the prices here, I would rather go get a nice juicy burger, or splurge yet again at Gary Dankos.
I think that most of these glowing reviews on this place have no clue about superior Eastern European or Russian food, that can be found in NYC. I actually had terrible Slovak food when I went to Slovakia, after the Iron Curtain fell, but I felt this was due to the poverty induced by the Russian post-​occupation. I had really great Slovak food at Praha, in NYC, so many moons ago. I even had my Catechism celebration there when I was twelve.
Anyway, next time I will direct my money & energy on paying yet another visit to the last good Russian Deli in SF, The European Deli ( Unilocal it, it is amazing). They are staffed by some of the rudest Russians on earth, but oh what a glorious selection of Kielbasa & other ethnic tubular meats! Next time, I really have to remember to bring my big cooler. The European Deli also has amazing real German Bread from Germany, and Poppyseed Rolls from Brooklyn. The Assyrian Deli (Babylon Market) in Modesto, CA also comes here to stock up on goodies, and then marks them up again to sell to the Modestoids! I often get my triple smoked Kielbasa there at a premium price… but oh so yummy & porky! …it also freezes well!
Pork Belly, and the other fad Pork products that seem ever-​present would never stand a chance with a good homemade Kielbasa. You can also order real Kielbasa shipped to you from Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY (e.g.
) too!
P. S.- There are so many ways to spell Perogies or Kielbasa that I will even try to be politically correct… they are all the same damned thing.
DO NOT BOTHER WITH THE CRAP THAT THEY TRY TO PASS OFF IN SUPERMARKETS…
Hillshire & Mrs. T’s is utter crap… do NOT eat!

Always great to spend time with good people sharing awesome food. This night was no exception.
I’m familiar with some Russian food but armed with limited knowledge we headed to the city. It’s not a problem the night we dined at Stroganoff because we had a gorgeous expert with us Natasha S and the very funny Erkan C. They invited us and treated us for my birthday. Thanks guys!
We started with a couple of drinks called the Compote and kvas. Both are non alcoholic.
To keep our grumbling bellies content temporarily they plied us with the best ever fresh bread. Weak with desire I caved in and ate more than I should. They give you a huge pile of their fresh bread.
We also tried their beer called Baltika. First foray into the menu was the Cheese Piroshki. This little goodies were packed with gooey warm cheese enough to bring a smile to a cheese lover like me.
The Beet salad was amazingly wonderful and presented in a unique way. Grated. I could eat the whole plate!
The deviled eggs with mushroom was equally devine. The soup that could be a meal to me was loaded with vegetables and sausages was surprisingly very good! A single thin slice of lemon made a major difference in the taste!
I had the lamb chops as my main dish and it didn’t disappoint. Excellent taste. It came with homemade mashed potatoes.
The standout dish of the night for me? The oh so excellent stuffed cabbage. The. Best. Ever! I’ve tried a few polish restaurants in the Bay Area with Adam and we both agreed nobody can hold a candle to Stroganoff when it comes to this dish! You just really have to try it.
The Napoleon dessert was flaky and not overly sweet. Loved it!
Everything in this restaurant is made from scratch hence the long wait and the tendency to stuff your face with their awesome bread. So you’ve been warned. The staff was awesome. The chef amazing.
I’m already excited to go back and try their sturgeon. Tthey were out the night we dined here.

Our Russian friend (Natasha) and her homie (Erkan) invited us to check out one of their favorite restaurants, and to share her homeland cuisine. Being Polish, I was quite familiar with what was in the store for us, but didn’t expect it to be a grand slam. On the way there, we were quite concerned with parking as the restaurant is situated adjacent to the Embarcadero tourist area, where parking is horrendous. Astonishingly we scored a spot right in front of the restaurant.
The authenticity was apparent the minute we stepped in with dialog in Russian throughout. We sat and ordered immediately as we were told the food is prepared from scratch and takes a while. Based on our wait time, I recommend starting with an appetizer. The bread was outstanding and will be impossible to surpass anytime soon.
We indulged in the following:
Beet Salad: Slightly simmered beets, walnuts, garlic, plums with a hint of mayonnaise. I love beat salads and this one deserves five stars, as it had its own special preparation with great balance of flavors and texture.
Deviled Eggs: Boiled eggs stuffed with mushrooms and caramelized onions, chilled to perfection and garnished with dill. Very well done as an appetizer with defined mushroom flavor.
Pirozhki: Russian style baked pastries filled with cheese. I enjoyed these very much, especially the cheese filling, which had a unique cottage cheese flavor, and I relished every bite.
Pickled Veggies: Perfectly fermented and crunchy cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. This served well as a substitute salad dish.
Stuffed Cabbage: Cabbage leaves stuffed with ground veal mixed with jasmine rice, seasoning and herbs. Baked to a soft texture and garnished with shredded carrots and tomato based sauce. This dish was amazing, and equalled my mom’s outstanding and similar Polish dish called Golobki. I would drive back just to have this dish alone. The best in Bay Area!
Napoleon: Russian style flaky dough, layered with delicate and light custard resulting in a semisweet dessert that will leave you in utopia.
The service is outstanding and perfectly balanced with attentiveness and friendliness. Although there was an appetizer missing from our order (not billed), I believe it was a simple miscommunication, after all we had four languages involved. Also, be prepared to order alternate dishes, as they may not have your first choice, presumably due to the preparation required ahead of time and they run out from time to time. Everything is made from scratch and to order.
In summary, the Russian cuisine is quite analogous to Polish cuisine, which I grew up with and enjoyed throughout my life. This meal only amplified the craving and yearning for it. Every dish was perfect, without exaggeration.
Thanks Natasha and Erkan for the introduction!

Wonderful food and friendly owner. Fresh, big salads with crisp vegetables. Owner/​chef was kind enough to make me a vegan potato stroganoff, which was delicious. Everything is cooked to order so it’s a great place to relax after walking around Fisherman’s Wharf. We stumbled upon this by accident but I’d go out of my way to come back here!

I’ve written a very positive review a year ago when we found this place. Food is still good.
Unfortunately, they just can’t pull it together with their service & operations while their prices very unjustifiably keep going up.
Ordering the food: Have a plan B or plan C ready because it will be only 5 PM and they’ve already ran out of half of their stuff. GrubHub orders are like a crap shoot, because most likely they’ll call you immediately after the order and ask to substitute an item.
It can be an empty restaurant and yet food can take half an hour to be brought out.
GrubHub orders are at LEAST half an hour late, on the regular. They put a Corona beer as an apology for being late, but I’m sorry, I can get a Corona for a couple bucks and you already made us wait an extra half hour for dinner.
Really hope they straighten their operation soon.

First, the food was very good. I enjoyed my Chicken Cutlet and the Olive Salad was delicious. Also, our waitress was very attentive. Now for the bad stuff. My dining partner’s Sea Bream fish was very bony. So much so that he considered it inedible. We tried to order a Caesar Salad but were told it would take 15 minutes.
Then there’s the people running the business. I used the restroom and was accosted on the way out by a woman who said «Restrooms are for customers only» I had to prove I was a customer. I used a Sweetjack coupon that was good for $ 40. After ordering I was informed that the manager had been called and I had to order a minimum of $ 50. That really angered me and I almost left, but they backed down.
Lots of good eateries on the wharf. This one is reasonably priced with good food but I won’t go back.

You’ll see I reviewed this place in December 2011 when it was a Thai restaurant. It’s changed hands — and names– but in the transition, I could still order my Thai steak salad. Now that’s not available so it was time to eat some Russian food! We started with Borcht. Excellent! Of course, we had to order the Strogonoff and we loved that, too.

I enjoyed the food there, especially fish which was amazing.
Traditional appetizers were also really nice, even such a simple thing like Herring was made special.
The prices are a little bit high and especially for alcohol.
Overall, the place is good and I highly recommend people who would like to try Russian food to stop by here.

I went with a girlfriend on a Thur night kind of late-​sh, we were pretty much the only table… they were setting up for a wedding for the next day so it was a little chaotic, but the staff was very nice. The food pretty pricey for quality and taste.
We got the beef stroganoff-​very yummy, must try
Peilmeni — so so, not very flavorful
My friend is Russian and she said it was like a home-​cooked meal. Overall tasty, just the price and ambiance warrant the three.

Atmosphere is dimly lit with white table cloths. It’s a nice place for a date, or for a classy ladies night out (think wine, not happy hour). Prices are reasonable, and their namesake dish (stroganoff) was so good!
Sauce was super rich and crazy thick, and it was served over roasted potatoes. Potatoes were delish, sauce was great, and beef was tender.
My friend got the lamb and she really enjoyed it.
Service was slow, but if you’re not in a rush, swing by and check out the Rush-​sian restaurant a little ways away from the wharf. (har har)

This is review update, and I am adding extra star, because it’s awesome like homemade Russian food.
Stroganoff is the best authentic Russian food in San Francisco.
I can call myself an expert since I’ve been here more than 15 times and tried almost everything on menu, and everything is delicious. And I am Russian.
Borsch there as good as it gets, ask for garlic sour cream for a garnish.
Pirozhkis are really good, nice and flaky dough, specially feta and mozzarella cheese stuffing is so buttery and creamy.
Stuffed cabbage– yummy, stuffed crepes sweet or savory– amazing, sturgeon perfect. everything is tasty.
Lamb chops are really flavorful, specify the doneness, other wise they cook it to well done, in Russia people don’t eat rare meat. Their potato stroganoff dish is really good, mushed potato formed in a football shape stuffed with ground beef, baked and served with mushroom stroganoff sauce on top.
Seat close to the window better lighting and better feel of the ambiance.
Their Napoleon cake is the best I have ever had, made to order, so flaky and light. Not overly sweet.
Cons:
Décor is little dated.
Service can be slow.
But it’s understandable, they make most of their food to order.
The wait doesn’t bother me much, they give me plenty of warm delicious bread to keep me entertained.

Came here because I bought a groupon. I made a reservation in advance but I guess it wasn’t necessary. It was a Saturday night and less than half the restaurant was full. But then again, it was pouring outside. They start you off with regular bread and butter. Unfortunately, they were both cold.
Chicken Liver Pâté ($ 8) — Decent portion to start off our meal. It was creamy and helped satiate our hunger.
Beef Stroganoff ($ 16) — This was my first time trying beef stroganoff so I didn’t really know what to expect. They serve it with potatoes rather than pasta because that’s how they do it in Russia. It was really creamy and heavy. My boyfriend, who is really into beef stroganoff, said that it was pretty good and ate every last bit of sauce on the plate.
Stuffed Cabbage ($ 15) — Cabbage leaved stuffed with veal, mixed with jasmine rice, spices and herbs. I was pretty disappointed because it tasted like regular meatballs wrapped in cabbage and covered with generic marinara sauce.
From the time we ordered to when we finally got an entrée, an hour had elapsed. Considering how many people were in the restaurant, that’s pretty ridiculous. The food was decent, but definitely not worth the price. I don’t think I’ll be back without another deal.

Solid 4 stars! SF doesn’t really have a lot of great European restaurants, Russian food being one of them.
Stroganoff has really solid Russian food! Straightforward and tasty! The borscht was really good, especially that I am not a big fan of beets. My friend and I had the smoked fish platter for appetizer and they served 2 – 3 varieties of smoked fish and they were all good (definitely not the dry, tasteless store-​bought variety).
I had the lamb chops while my friend had the beef stroganoff, my lamb was well prepared but the stroganoff was off the charts! the sauce was really solid and tasty, the only complaint we had was it was served with potatoes instead of noodles. But other than that it was a very good meal and this is one place that I’d definitely go back to.

Spectacular! I went [a] for the food, and [b] to experience this restaurant on its own terms — the way the Russian family who own/​run it want it to be experienced, rather than compared with other restaurants. My experience was a total success, on both counts.
I ordered borscht, beet salad, and pelmeni, since I had a $ 30 voucher to «spend.» Each dish was huge — each would make a complete meal, with the complimentary plate of bread and butter.
Service was prompt. Waitress kept an eye on me, from behind the bar, but did not hover. I like that.
Chilled lemon-​infused water arrived immediately. Next, a dinner plate of white and wheat bread and butter.
Borscht was a revelation; smells as good as it tastes. A garden-​full of beets in it! Also potato, and a large chunk of beef. Dill on top. Sour cream on the side.
Beet salad interesting, delicious; unlike anything I’ve ever tasted before.
Pelmeni so flavorful! Fragrant. Stuffing kinda crunchy, not mushy. Liberally sprinkled with fresh-​snipped dill on top.
This chef’s recipes don’t need to be compared with anybody else’s. They stand on their own.
Presentation is gorgeous. Clearly this family cares how their food looks, smells, and tastes.
I’ll be back often for that amazing $ 7 platter of borscht with bread. I can’t think of a better meal for $ 7.
Their back room was set up for a banquet; wish I had thought to take pictures of it; it was beautiful.
I’ve rarely seen ethnic restaurants thrive in Fisherman’s Wharf; I hope this one makes it. It’s too good to lose!
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Update 7am the next morning:
Uh-​oh, hidden-​sodium alert! My body is hypersensitive to sodium, so I had asked whether a commercial soup-​stock-​base is used as a starter for their soups. No, the waitress said, *Everything* is made from scratch. OK, however that may be, somewhere in my meal was way more sodium than occurs in foods in their natural state. I have wakened this morning with the classic sodium reaction— face puffy, eyes puffed nearly shut. I haven’t had that experience in several years, since I am so careful about avoiding processed/​frozen/​canned foods, MSG, and other hidden sodium sources. Of course, unless the chef is hypersensitive to sodium, s/​he may be unaware of sodium content in ingredients. [Sigh]
I’m not subtracting star (s), because Stroganoff Restaurant is superb for all but us rare sodium-​intolerant individuals. Unfortunately, I will not be able to patronize this place.

My daughter and I were mislead by the high ratings on Unilocal.The beef stroganoff is very heavy. No pasta. Potatoes instead. I think it could have used more seasoning. A little more salt, perhaps.
The meat dumplings were the same. It required more salt.

I really like their food. There are very few Russian restaurants in San Francisco. Their Beef Stroganoff is fantastic. It was creamy, the meat was tender and moist, and the portion was ample. I did not realize how good beef Stroganoff was until I came there. Their kvas (Russian root beef) is pretty good. The other items on their menu, such piroshky and blintzes (the crepes served with caviar and cream cheese), and blintzes with veal are really good. Russian fruit punch was so-​so, nothing special. The customer service was OK.

I love Thai food and I also LOVE me some beef stroganoff, so when I saw a groupon for Stroganoff Restaurant that served both Thai and Russian food I just had to check it out.
Now my friend and I were super curious as to why this place served both Russian and Thai food, so we asked the waitress. She explained that the owner was from the Ukraine and he bought the place and before he bought it, it was a Thai restaurant, not wanting to alienate the customers who were loyal to the Thai place he decided to serve both cuisines. I am glad he decided to do so…
To start we ordered the cheese proskis. They were big flaky dumplings that were STUFFED with cheese.
As for our main courses my friend and I decided to share an order of the thai green curry with pork and the beef stroganoff.
The curry was pretty good, not necessarily the best green curry I’ve ever had, but by far not the worst either. It had a ton of veggies and lots of pork bites, it wasn’t overly spicy but had a good flavor and creamy consistency.
The beef stroganoff was really incredible. I am used to having stroganoff served over white rice or pasta, but this one was served over fried potatoes! Seeing the fried potatoes was a very happy surprise. The beef was tender and the sauce was creamy, and the potatoes were amazing.

Came here with a Home Run $ 15 for $ 30 deal. Figured I’d try Russian fare after an inexplicable craving for beef stroganoff. Should’ve waited for Unilocalers to weigh in (at this time, only 31 reviews written).
I feel bad for giving one star, because the restaurant seems understaffed (one person had to host, wait and bus all tables), it is new, and it appears to be family-​owned. However, there was a clear disorganization and lack of effort, and I don’t think that’s reflected in the majority of the four-​star reviews here. As for the food… just my two cents.
For all the reviews on the Thai menu — this has been phased out and it’s solely Russian menu now.
Service — there is no service. After ordering, the waitress left the the menus on our table. We had to ask for water 15 minutes later. We were never offered bread either. This was with just two other tables on a Sunday night. She also stepped outside to make a phone call.
My entrée, beef stroganoff, came first. The hungry bf finally caved upon seeing my food arrive and asked for bread. It came, without butter, which we also asked for. We also had to ask for utensils. Honestly, if it’s going to be like this, I’d rather they pile pitchers of water, utensils, and napkins at some self-​service table. Then have people bus their own stuff. Do it that way. Why lay down white table cloths and masquerade as a restaurant with service?
The bf’s fish came shortly after. It came whole (head and tail) but was impressively completely deboned. The taste was okay. It tasted homemade — i.e., simple in flavor. It did have some unpleasant herb stuffed into it that he promptly took out.
My stroganoff, served with mushrooms and potatoes, was über rich and had a flavor I couldn’t pinpoint. Something sort of dilly, but super strong. I didn’t like it. And, I’ll admit ignorance of Russian cuisine on my part, but I did think there would be noodles involved. No points docked for that. It was in desperate need of basic salt. Points docked for that. As Tom Colicchio says, good food is good food.
I felt disgusting afterwards and this lingered for the remainder of the evening. I can’t say this enough — authentic doesn’t mean it is good. You can’t name your place called Stroganoff Restaurant and serve subpar stroganoff.
Oh, and they were out of piroshki. That probably would’ve been their redeeming quality. Or have the opposite effect, as I’ve had decent, homemade, authentic piroshki. I’ll never know.
Yikes! This was one of my worst meals in awhile.